Action Plan to Protect Yangtze River Basin
By LI Linxu
Shortly after the release of a plan for ecological environment protection of the Yellow River basin, an action plan focusing on the environmental protection of the Yangtze River basin has recently been released by 17 government bodies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).
The action plan puts forward a series of goals and tasks as well as corresponding measures to achieve its goals.
According to the action plan, by the end of 2025, the overall water quality of the Yangtze River basin should remain in a sound condition, while the water quality of the mainstream should stay at Grade II in the country's five-tier water quality system.
In recent years, China has made significant achievements in improving the ecological quality of the basin.
Statistics show that by the end of 2020, 96.7 percent of the surface water in the Yangtze River basin was classified Grade I to III (good quality) in 2020, 14.4 percentage points higher than in 2016, said an official from MEE, adding that no water in the Yangtze River basin was below Grade V.
Wushan section of Yangtze River in Chongqing Municipality. (PHOTO: XINHUA)
To further consolidate the achievements and advance the ecological and environmental protection and restoration of the basin, the action plan has laid out four major tasks, such as continuously deepening the comprehensive management of water environment, thoroughly advancing the ecological restoration of water ecosystem, and speeding up the green development pattern.
Correspondingly, a total of 34 concrete measures have been set up, including continuously improving the safety of drinking water, further advancing urban sewage and waste treatment, and thoroughly implementing industrial pollution abatement.
Steadily advancing the restoration of aquatic biodiversity, actively promoting green and low-carbon development, and further leveraging the role of sci-tech are also among the measures.
The action plan is a follow-up policy to the guideline on further promoting the nationwide battle to prevent and control pollution, released by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.
Of particular note is that advancing the Beautiful China Initiative and taking a holistic and systematic approach to the conservation and improvement of waters have been written into the 20th CPC National Congress report.
The report pledges that China will prioritize ecological protection, conserve resources and use them efficiently, and pursue green and low-carbon development.